


Twisting, Rolling

by Percygranger



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Hurt Magnus Bane, Inspired by Fanvids, Jewelry, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e15 To the Night Children, Worried Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Percygranger/pseuds/Percygranger
Summary: A missing scene set in season 3, between episodes 15 and 16.What exactly happened to Magnus's rings after his collapse?
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Twisting, Rolling

It was one of the last things they attended to after Magnus’s collapse. Alec, despite his panic, had kept his heart beating, his lungs taking air, until Catarina had stabilized him. She had moved him to a bed in the infirmary, then asked Alec to change his clothes to a hospital gown. Maybe it was just to give him something to do. Alec was grateful, either way. He’d had to remove some of Magnus’s jewelry along the way, but the rings were last. 

Magnus looked different, spelled clean, his hair collapsing without the styling products, face strangely soft and undefined. Alec had brushed it to the side, savoring the softness of it, the warmth of his skin. Any and all indications of life.

As he sat by the bed, Alec kept running his fingers up and down Magnus’s, bare of the usual chunky, spiralling rings, nails clear of polish for the first time since Alec had known him. He looked so young, despite his hundreds of years of life, face lax in unconsciousness. 

The rings were in Alec’s pocket. It was a temporary solution. The rest was in a small pouch, to keep the smaller pieces from getting lost. He would put everything back in Magnus’s jewelry cases when he was willing to leave Magnus and return to his room. That hadn’t happened yet. 

In limbo, waiting for Magnus to wake up, Alec went through the gamut of emotions. Worry never really went away. Hope was automatic, hard and bright. But he was so angry, sometimes, that Magnus had lied, had hidden the danger of getting his magic back. Despite everything, Alec ached in sympathy. He couldn’t understand what it was like to lose the cornerstone of your identity after centuries. Magic and immortality, the hallmarks of being a warlock, gone. Bartered away for Alec, for Jace. 

The closest a shadowhunter could come was deruning, but that was less of a sacrifice. Shadowhunters lost their angelic powers (Magnus had called it their magic once, mischievous, testing, and Alec had choked on his drink. He could still see a beringed hand sketching a rune, which one had it been?), but their lifespan stayed the same. Alec would give his runes up for Magnus in a second if it could serve any kind of purpose. He was far past his initial doubts, of protesting that he couldn’t give up his life for their relationship. Magnus, as surely as Jace, was part of him now. He’d hoped, he’d wished, that moving in together would help with the pain of becoming mundane, somehow. He’d been a fool.

Catarina came in, and Alec moved away, letting her run diagnostic magic up and down Magnus’s body, then place small electrodes on his temples. In lieu of touching Magnus, Alec brushed his fingers against the rings in his pocket. The warmed metal against his fingertips was familiar, comforting. 

Eventually, Izzy came in to badger him, demanding he eat and try to sleep. He resisted. Caring for himself, even if that was what Magnus would want, was poor substitute for the constant reassurance that Magnus was alive. They compromised. He ate at the bedside, barely tasting it, then went back to their rooms for a short break. If anything changed, he’d be the first to know. 

Inside the suite, Alec didn’t look at the rug where Magnus had collapsed, heading straight to the bedroom. More slowly, he made his way to the bureau Magnus had been using to get ready. It had a mirror set in the middle, the accoutrements of a stylish man spread out nearby, surrounding him. 

Alec’s reflection had deep circles under his eyes, mouth tight with worry. He grimaced at himself, and pulled out Magnus’s jewelry. Time to put it away.

The tie pin, the necklace, even the small, fragile-looking ear cuff were easy to put back, draped over hooks and pushed into perforated velvet. But rolling Magnus’s rings in his fingers, the boxes open in front of him, Alec kept hesitating. Eventually, he put all but one back, to keep, just until Magnus woke up. 

Magnus would wake up. Caterina would figure out what was wrong. Then, Alec would fix this. One way or another. He nodded at his reflection, and went to rest, his determination as solid as the metal clenched in his hand.


End file.
